Annette Morreau – writer and broadcaster founded the Contemporary Music Network, the UK’s national touring scheme for contemporary music and remained its director for 17 years. She is a music critic for the Independent newspaper and is Senior Visiting Research Fellow at King’s College London.

Composers

Ed Bennett is from Bangor, Co. Down, N. Ireland and works in the fields of notated, electronic and improvised contemporary music. His music has been commissioned and performed internationally by many diverse artists, ensembles and organisations including the BBC, RTE, PRSF, Music Network, Moving On Music and the arts councils of England, Ireland and N. Ireland. He also performs with and directs his own ensemble, ‘decibel’, which is dedicated to the performance of new and experimental cross-discipline work.
His works have been featured at many festivals such as the Gaudeamus (Amsterdam), Huddersfield, Bath International etc. Recent performances and commissions include a work for viola and ensemble for Garth Knox (Excavation - Arts council of Ireland commission) and a work for orchestra and electronics for the Ulster Orchestra (all of this used to be trees - BBC R3 Commission). He was a finalist in the 2005 British Composer Awards and in early 2007 he will be a featured composer in the RTE National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland’s Horizons series. His work ‘Ausland’ for orchestra was awarded the first prize in the Tactus Composers Forum in Brussels, Belgium in 2006.http://www.edbennett.co.ukhttp://www.cmc.ie/composers/composer.cfm?composerID=130

Born in Canterbury in 1979, Phillip Neil Martin finished his MMus with Distinction in 2004 from the Royal College of Music and was awarded the Worshipful Company of Musicians Silver Medal for overall excellence. He attended the Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme “Contemporary Composition Course” (2001) studying with Oliver Knussen, Colin Matthews and Magnus Lindberg, and also attended the “New Music New Media Course” (2002). Phillip has won numerous awards including the “Royal Philharmonic Society Composition Prize 2003”. He was also the youngest finalist in the “Toru Takemitsu International Composition Competition 2003” with his first orchestral piece Nights Bright Days.
He regularly collaborates with filmmakers, fashion designers, theatre, writers, and with arts organisations like the National Gallery (2002) and the British Council (2003). Recent soundtrack projects include work for film, installations, collaborations with traditional Japanese music, and a CD to accompany the release of Santa Montefiore’s book The Forget-Me-Not Sonata. Phillip's concert music is performed widely in Europe, America and Asia by likes of the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra etc.http://www.phillipneilmartin.com

Claudia Molitor, born in 1974, studied Music and Media at Sussex University, went on to do an MA in Music at City University, London and completed her PhD in Composition with Michael Finnissy in 2004. In 2007 Oh Du Kleines Kabinett was short-listed for a Royal Philharmonic Society Music Award in 2007 and she was on the spnm short-listed from 2004 to 2006.
Some recent performances include performances at Wien Modern 2007 in Austria by Apartment House, at Ecat 2007 in Edinburgh and at the VI Festival de Musica Contemporania de Girona 2007 in Spain by EXAUDI. 2008 will see, amongst others, performances at the Wild Dog Festival by Christopher Redgate, the ICA by notes inegales, the Nimes Art Gallery, France, a studio concert for live broadcast by the German radio station WDR in Cologne, an audio-visual installation in Hanley as part of the Place, Space & Indetity project and one in London as part of the Hear Here! project.
Her work has been performed at the Brighton Festival Fringe, the London New Wind Festival, fuseleeds, Spitalfields Festival, York Late Festival, the Summer Institute for Contemporary Performance Practice in Boston, USA, Ecat, Festival de Musica Contemporania de Girona and Wien Modern. It has been broadcast by BBC Radio 3 and articles about it have appeared in the BBC Music Magazine, the Observer Review and Tempo. Claudia is also the festival director and co-founder of Soundwaves Festival.
http://www.claudiamolitor.org

Gerald Resch, born in Linz, Austria, in 1975, studied composition with Michael Jarrell at the University of Music, Vienna, from 1993-2000. A scholarship at the music university Cologne, where he worked with York Höller, stimulated Resch's interest for working with organic sound sculptures. From 2001 to 2002 Gerald Resch was a postgraduate student of Beat Furrer in Graz which was an important experience for the development of musical economy. "Setting off, going on, changing direction, not knowing where one will get to: my compositions originate from a curiosity for unknown paths. Models from architecture, geology, horticulture or linguistics have thus initiated compositional reflexion. In every moment of the musical process, these models are being examined on how they could be stratified, altered, confronted or extinguished in a meaningful way. Colouring and dramaturgy, as well as an openness for the unexpected, play an essential part."
The compositions of Gerald Resch have been performed in Austria (Salzburger Festspiele, Wiener Konzerthaus, Musikverein), Germany (Konzerthaus Berlin), Switzerland, Czech, Slovakia, Luxemburg, The Netherlands and USA.http://www.edition21.at/_composer.php?sprache=de&comp_nn=Resch&to_include=c

Orestis Toufektsis – now resident in Austria, the works of Uzbek-born Greek composer of orchestral, chamber, choral, piano, and electro-acoustic pieces, have been performed throughout Europe. Toufektsis studied music theory and piano at the Contemporary Conservatory of Thessaloníki from 1985-93, while simultaneously studying survey engineering at the Aristotle University of Thessaloníki. From 1993-99, he studied with Herman Markus Pressl and later with Gerd Kühr at the Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst in Graz and graduated with honours.
Among his honours are the Kompositionspreis from the city of Klagenfurt (1995), Third Prize in the composition competition of the Hochschülerschaft der Österreichischen Kunst Universitäten (1997, for für 2 Flöten, Altflöte und Crotales) and First and Second prizes from the same academy (1999, for Nalos-Ackmi and Arsyon).
He has been a member of the composers collective Die Andere Saite since 1995 and in 1998, co-founded the new music ensemble ART-resonanz. His music has been heard in Athens, Bremen, Graz, Klagenfurt, Thessaloníki, Vienna, and elsewhere, and has been broadcast in Austria and Germany.

Judith Unterpertinger, born 1977 in Hall, in Tirol, Austria, studied with Christoph Cech, Gunter Waldek und Martin Stepanik composition and piano at the Bruckner University of Linz and philosophy at the University of Vienna. She is known for her diverse engagements as a composer, pianist and performance artist.
Unterpertinger is involved in various projects: She works with ensembles such as "Der böse Zustand", "tütü", "the fruitmarket gallery" and "donau@u.com". In Austria she is a well established composer and has worked for the Janusensemble, the KoehneQuartett and the Austrian Ensemble for Contemporary Music among others. She is also active as a performance artist (znit). In 2006 she won the third prize at the Gustav Mahler composition competition. In the same year she also received a one-year scholarship from SKE. Her most recent work though was as composer in residence at the ARGE Composers' Forum Mittersill, Austria in 2007.www.unterpertinger.org

Musicians

As soloist and chamber musician, Mary Dullea (piano) has built an impressive reputation as a performer and commissioner of new music: Together with Darragh Morgan (violin) and Robin Michael (cello) she forms The Fidelio Trio, which has appeared at different festivals such as FuseLeeds, Reggello Festival (Italy), West Cork Music etc. Mary Dullea has performed throughout Ireland, England, Europe, USA, Hong Kong and South Africa, at festivals including Brighton, Huddersfield, Aldeburgh, Reggello (Italy) and South Africa’s National Arts Festival. She is the curator of Soundings 08 in collaboration with the Austrian Cultural Forum at the ACF and the Wigmore Hall. She has appeared on NMC, Delphian Records, Altarus, Mode Records and BBC Radio 3.http://www.fideliotrio.com

Winner of the prize for the most promising British entrant in the 2003 Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition, Matthew Jones is an accomplished violist, violinist and composer. He was awarded a Senior Exhibition to study at the Royal College of Music and he continues to study privately with Rivka Golani.
Matthew’s recent recital schedule has included performances in the Purcell Room, St. Martin-in-the-Fields, the CBSO Centre, Birmingham, venues in France and Italy and lives on BBC Radio 3. He has performed extensively as a soloist, chamber musician and orchestral leader throughout the world; recent collaborations include concerts with the London Debussy Trio, the PM Music Ensemble, Ensemble Modern and numerous appearances with the ‘Live Music Now!’ scheme. He was recently the only British-born instrumentalist selected to participate in the 2004 Verbier Academy.

The Styrian born Isabell Kargl (soprano) studied classical singing and instrumental and singing education with Mag. Ines Reiger at the Franz Schubert-Konservatorium in Vienna. Her work so far includes live and studio collaborations with various ensembles such as "Voice and Electronics", "Al Reifert and the You Who Project", but also band projects such as "QuinThe Mothe" and "The Swinging Ladies". Apart from that Isabell Kargl has also worked as a speaker for various internet and advertising companies and has been engaged with the production of children's musicals such as "Theater mit Horizont".
Her passion for free improvisation and sounds brought her to London in 2007 where she worked closely with the pianist Veryan Weston, the singer Maggie Nicols and also Anita Wardell. Isabell Kargl's interpretation of jazz and her own compositions can be identified by their expressive and atmospheric sound patterns. She has been a member of various Jazz formations such as "sound & voice", and "I.Ku". At the moment she is working on a solo project. Since 2004 she has been teaching at the Vienna Music Institute for Jazz- and Pop music.

Loré Lixenberg (mezzo-soprano) is a performer of spectacular intensity and expressiveness. The warmth and agility of her voice impress just as much as her total absorption in any rôle. Her rich experience in the area of music theatre includes a performance alongside Thomas Hampson in Weill’s The Firebrand of Florence at the Konzerthaus in Vienna. At the Salzburg Festival she sang in Guy Vivier’s Marco Polo with Klangforum Wien. She has also worked extensively with the London based Théâtre de Complicité, singing Miss Donnithorne in Peter Maxwell Davies’ Miss Donnithorne’s Maggot at the Almeida Theatre, and Mrs Green in Birtwistle’s Down by the Greenwood Side. At the National Theatre she performed in the premiere of Out of a House Walked a Man by Gerard McBurney, and at the Battersea Arts Centre she undertook the rôle of Baby Jane in the hugely successful Jerry Springer Opera. Loré’s chamber music collaborations include work with Joanna McGregor, Zoë Martlew, Dominic Saunders, Rolf Hind and David Alberman, and she is part of the trio Vanitas. Recent world premieres include Harrison Birtwistle’s Niedecker verses and Bent Sørensen’s Roses are Falling. Loré’s television work for the BBC has included the six-part avant-garde comedy Attention Scum (2001) and the series Strings, Bow and Bellows, in which she sang music from the electro-acoustic repertoire.

Since his acclaimed South Bank solo debut, Robin Michael (cello) has premiered many new solo works, most recently Joe Cutler’s Music for Cello and Strings. Other recent recordings include the complete cello works of Ginastera for Lorelt, solo works by Dorothy Ker, and Finnissy’s Jisei for Radio 3. Together with Mary Dullea and Darragh Morgan he is one third of The Fidelio Trio as which they perform extremely diverse repertoire throughout Europe, Asia and South Africa and frequently broadcast for BBC Radio 3. Recent concert highlights include complete cycles of suites by Bach and Britten in Wilton’s Music Hall, London as well as projects with artists as diverse as Ronald Brautigam and Dave Holland. Michael plays on a cello by Vincenzo Panormo c1791.http://www.fideliotrio.com

Darragh Morgan (violin) has appeared as soloist with the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland – recording Donnacha Dennehy’s Elastic Harmonic on NMC D133 – Ulster Orchestra (the world premiere of Tavener’s Hymn of Dawn), RTE Concert Orchestra (Arvo Pärt’s Tabula Rasa, in the presence of the composer) and KZN Philharmonic (giving the South African premiere of Barber’s Violin Concerto). Recordings with pianist Mary Dullea include Opera (NMC D108) and Finnissy’s violin and piano music for Mode Records. He has recorded For John Cage by Morton Feldman with pianist John Tilbury for Matchless Recordings. Darragh is also a member of the Smith Quartet. As violinist of the Fidelio Trio – formed with Mary Dullea and Robin Michael – Darragh has released Bulb, an acclaimed disc of Irish piano trios, on NMC.http://www.darraghmorgan.com /
http://www.fideliotrio.com

The internationally known flautist Rowland Sutherland regularly performs in new music and classical ensembles, jazz groups, symphony orchestras, various non-Western groups, pop outfits and as a soloist. Many of Rowland's solo contemporary flute performances have been broadcast on BBC Radio 3, London. He has composed and arranged music for groups, ensembles and for the BBC. Composition commissions include those written for the percussion quartet "Ensemble Bash" and the contemporary music group "New Music Players". In 2003 The New Music Players released a special recording of commissions by British composers called Crying Bird, Echoing Star on the London Independent Records label which includes Rowland's composition Timeless Odyssey.
Rowland was commissioned by the worldly, contemporary classical ensemble "Lontano" for his work Espiritu Libre, which received its first performance at La Linea, the London Festival of Latin Music 2005 at the South Bank Centre. They also performed Rowland's new version for gospel choir and ensemble of his work The Mystical Land, during the ensembles 30th Anniversary concert series 2006. Rowland's piano trio One for Hermeto was given its world premiere by the Fidelio Trio, for whom it was written, during the BMIC's The Cutting Edge 2005 series at The Warehouse, in London.http://www.rowlandsutherland.com

Born in Manchester, clarinettist Peter Furniss has performed internationally as a soloist and chamber musician at festivals in the UK, Europe, Israel, Azerbaijan and South Korea, as well as giving recitals at Manchester's Bridgewater Hall and in New York. In 2007 he released Time Pieces, a CD of American music with pianist David Leiher Jones for Clarinet Classics (CC0054).
Peter has also played as a guest with many leading orchestras, ensembles and new music groups, including the BBC Symphony and Royal Philharmonic Orchestras, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Lontano, Uroboros and Okeanos. A recent interest in performing with live electronics has resulted in engagements in Denmark, Germany and South Korea.
As a member of the internationally renowned Impropera, Peter has given completely improvised operatic performances in the UK, Europe (including the World Impro Games in Helsinki) and the United Arab Emirates.www.peterfurniss.co.uk